Losing Grip on the FRISBEE

Do you know that the terms "aspirin," "escalator," "thermos," and "zipper" were once protectable trademarks? And do you know that FRISBEE is yet another mark that may soon join the list of trademarks that have become generic? What causes protectable marks to fall into public domain? To a large degree, FRISBEE and other similarly-situated marks are victims of their own success. In each case, these products have been so novel and so successful that consumers have come to identify the thing itself by the brand name (is escalator a brand of moving stairs, or moving stairs themselves!). In some cases the trademark owner has failed to provide the public with an easy generic name for the product itself -- a factor that all but ensures misuse of the brand. And a lack of adequate enforcement on the part of trademark owners can accelerate the process and make genericness irreversible.